Boeing Tops Airbus for Fourth Year in a Row on Record Deliveries to Airlines

Richard Clough, Bloomberg

- Jan 07, 2016 2:40 pm

Skift Take

Boeing’s ability to recover from its months and months of disastrous Dreamliner delays and still stay atop Airbus should be a case study in an MBA course.

— Jason Clampet

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Boeing Co. is poised to retain its title as the world’s largest planemaker as deliveries soared to a record high.

The total rose 5.4 percent to 762 jets, buoyed by 495 deliveries of its single-aisle workhorse 737, the Chicago-based company said Thursday in a statement. Boeing had set a target to hand over 755 to 760 total commercial planes.

The company and rival Airbus Group SE have boosted output to keep pace with sizable backlogs as global carriers upgrade their fleets amid surging demand for air travel. New Boeing models, including versions of the 737 and wide-body 787, use advanced materials and more-efficient engines to provide fuel savings.

Boeing is set to surpass Airbus’s delivery total for the fourth consecutive year. The Toulouse, France-based company handed over about 635 planes last year, people familiar with the matter said last week. Airbus is set to announce the official total Jan. 12. Deliveries are critical for planemakers because that is when they receive the bulk of the payment for the aircraft.

Boeing’s order count probably fell as some analysts have questioned whether years of strong plane sales could wane amid cheap oil, rising interest rates and global economic uncertainty. The company, which plans to announce the total later Thursday, booked 743 net orders as of late December, compared with 1,432 in all of 2014.

The 2015 tally was boosted by several late-year deals, including a $10 billion agreement last month from China Southern Airlines Co.

Boeing fell 2 percent to $136.02 at 11:02 a.m. New York time amid a decline in world stock markets. The shares rose 11 percent last year, compared with a 0.7 percent decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

This article was written by Richard Clough from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.